Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with Pinus thunbergii in the eastern coastal pine forests of Korea

Abstract

We investigated the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal colonization status of Pinus thunbergii mature trees and regenerating seedlings varying in age in coastal pine forests on the east coast of Korea. We established one 20 x 20-m plot at each of two study sites at P. thunbergii coastal forests in Samcheok. Fifty soil blocks (5 x 5 x 15 cm) were sampled at regular intervals, and ten P. thunbergii seedlings of age 0, 1-3, 3-5, and 5-10 years were sampled in each study plot. In total of 27 ECM fungal taxa, Cenococcum geophilum was dominant, followed by Russula sp., Sebacina sp., and unidentified Cortinuris sp. in mature trees. In 0-year-old seedlings, some fungal species such as Sebacina sp., C. geophilum, and unidentified Cortinarius sp. were dominant whereas only C. geophilum was dominant after 1 year, and there were no apparent succession patterns in ECM fungal compositions beyond a host age of 1 year. Most ECM fungal taxa that had colonized seedlings of each age class were also observed in roots of mature trees in each site. These taxa accounted for 86.7-100% and 96.4-98.4% of ECM abundance in seedlings and mature trees, respectively. The results indicate that the species composition of ECM fungal taxa colonizing seedlings of different age in forests is similar to that of surrounding mature trees. Our results also showed that C. geophilum is a common and dominant ECM fungus in P. thunbergii coastal forests and might play a significant role in their regeneration.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal community associated with naturally regenerating Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. seedlings on exposed granite slopes along woodland paths

“…Cenococcum geophilum is one of the most common EcM fungi in the temperate and boreal zones and is often observed in several types of pine forests (e.g., Jonsson et al 1999;Douglas et al 2005). C. geophilum often dominate in roots of pine trees on weakly developed soil, such as coastal maritime sand (Matsuda et al 2009;Obase et al 2009a). EgertonWarburton et al (2003) detected fungal hyphae of C. geophilum in soil-weathered granitic bedrock at depths of 148-183 cm.…”

Ectomycorrhizal communities associated with silver fir seedlings (Abies alba Mill.) differ largely in mature silver fir stands and in Scots pine forecrops

“…In addition, there were identified several ECM fungal species known to associate with other coniferous tree species from the genus Picea, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga and with deciduous species F. sylvatica as symbionts of silver fir for the first time on record. These ECM species were Amanita spissa (De Román et al 2005), Boletus edulis (Korkama et al 2006), Elaphomyces muricatus (Menkis et al 2010), Hydnum rufescens (Agerer 1987(Agerer -2007, Laccaria maritima (Lang et al 2011), Russula nigricans, Russula xerampelina (Agerer 1987(Agerer -2007Teste et al 2009), and Tomentella ellisii (Obase et al 2009). …”

Enigmatic Sebacinales

“…appeared as the third dominant ECM of Pinus thunbergii in coastal pine forests in Korea (Obase et al 2009). Sebacina sp.…”

“…In naturally regenerating beech forests of North Spain, Sebacina ECMs appeared restricted to unmanaged Fagus sylvatica stands (Goicoechea et al 2009). In ECM communities associated with Pinus thunbergii in the eastern coastal forests of Korea, Sebacinales mycobionts showed high abundance and frequency (Obase et al 2009). In the Western Amazonian rainforest of Northeast Ecuador, ECMs had a low diversity but a high host preference .…”